Cooling cabinet



J. W. WILSON COOLING CABINET March 1, 1938.

Filed April 1, 19-37 nllllllllllli INVENTOR.

JAMEJ W W/mo/v ATT Patented Mar, 1, 1938 4 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE This invention relates to new and useful im-- provements in cooling cabinets.

One object of the invention is to provide animproved cooling cabinet which is so constructed that a positive and unrestricted fiow of cooling medium is maintained around and in contact with the objects to be cooled.

An important object of the invention is to provide an improved cooling cabinet 01' the charac- 1o ter described having partitions mounted therein for forming a plurality of compartments for receiving objects to be cooled, said partitions being foraminous whereby the flow of the cooling medium throughsaid compartmentsis unrestricted by the partitions.

Another object of the invention is to providean improved coolin'g cabinet having a chamber for receiving objects to be cooled and an elongate restricted passage communicating with the chain her and having a cooling element therein, so that when a cooling medium is circulated through the chamber and passage, said medium is sustained in intimate relation with the cooling element while traversing the passage whereby the a eiIect of the cooling element upon the medium is amplified and the maintenance of an even. temperature within the compartment is facilitated. A further object of the invention is to provide a cooling cabinet of thecharacter described having an elongate cooling chamber divided by a longitudinal partition into parallel sections and having an impeller so positioned at one end of the chamber that the cooling medium is directed equally through the parallel sections.

still another object of the invention is to provide an improved cooling cabinet which is so a ranged that the space occupied by the cooling element is minimized making for compactness and reducing waste space.

I .1 A construction-designed to carry out the-invention will be hereinafter described, together with other features of the invention.

The invention will be more readily understood from a reading of the following specification and by reference to the accompanying drawings, in' which an example of the invention is shown, and

wherein:

Figure l is in isometric view, partly in elevation and partly in section, of a cabinet construct- ,0 ed in accordance with the invention,

Figure 2 is a plan view of the cabinet, Figure 3 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional view taken on the line 3--3 of'flgure 2, Figure 4 is a transverse vertical sectional view ;5 taken on the-line 4-4 of- Figure 2, and

Figure 5 is an enlarged horizontal cross-sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 3.

In. the drawing, the numeral Ill designates an elongate rectangular cabinet or housing, which is, formed of an outer shell II and an inner shell 5 l2 spaced from each other and suitably connected together. The space between the walls and bottoms of the shells is filled with an insulating material l3, such as cork, or the like. The inner-shell I2 is made of a material suit- 10 able for holding a liquid cooling medium, such as salt brine. Short legs or blocks III are provided at the corners of the bottom of the cabinet to support said cabinet on the fioor or other surface. A sliding cover ll of theusual type 10 is arranged to close the top of the cabinet.

A vertical baille ll, havinga height substantially the same as the side walls of the cabinet, is mounted transversely within the cabinet near one end thereof, whereby the interior or said go cabinet is divided into a large liquid containing compartment A and a dry cooling compartment 1B. A three-sided casing I5 is mounted within the large compartment A, and has its end walls connected with the side wall of said compartment whereby a substantially rectangular chamber 0 is formed at one side of the compartment A. The side wall I! of the casing is spaced from theopposite side of the compartment whereby an elongate narrow passage D is formed therebetween. One end wall I 6 of the casing is spaced from the baille M to provide a narrow passage E and the opposite end wall I1 is spaced from the end of the compartment to form a passage F.

A-vertical transverse baiile I8 is mounted within the chamber 0 near one end thereof and a central vertical partition I! extends longitudinally of the chamber between the battle l8 and the opposite end wall It thereby dividing the chamberinto two parallel sections.

(A pInrality-oFIoi-aminous partitions 20 are mounted in relation within each section of the chamber'C and extend transversely thereof. Each partition is formed'of a section of hardware cloth 2|, or other suitable foraminous. material. having its edges confined within a metallic frame 22. The partitions are preferably removable, being adapted to fit in channel members 23 provided on the walls of the chamber and the longitudinal partition i9, whereby they may between each section of the chamber C and the passage E. Similar openings 25 are provided in the baffle l8 for establishing communication between the sections of the chamber C and the space between said baiiie and the end wall H of the casing. The openings 24 and 25 are preferably covered with hardware cloth or other foraminous material. A circular opening 26 is provided centrally of the end wall ll of the casing and an annular flared collar 21 surrounds the opening and extends into the chamber.

An impeller or fan 28 is mounted within the opening 26 on a shaft 29 which extends outwardly therefrom through a fluid tight bushing 30 in the end of the cabinet. A pulley 3| is mounted on the outer end of the shaft and belts 32 connect the pulley with the drive shaft of a motor 33, whereby the impeller is driven by said motor. The blades of the impeller are arranged to force a cooling medium within the cabinet from the passage F into the chamber C in the direction of the arrows (Figure 2). It is noted that the impeller is located in alinement with the longitudinal partition I! whereby a cooling medium, such as brine, actuated by the impeller, is directed equally into the sections of the chamber C. A cooling element 34 is mounted within the elongate passage D and includes a coil formed of a plurality of longitudinally disposed pipes 35 spaced vertically within said passage. The ends of the coil extend outwardly through suitable bushings in the end of the cabinet and are connected to a source of refrigerant (not shown).

Drains 38 are provided in the bottom of the compartments A and B whereby liquid in said compartments may be removed therefrom.

In use the large compartment A is filled with a liquid cooling medium, such as salt brine or the like, and bottles, cans or other obi ectsto be cooled are placed within the compartments formed by the foraminous partitions 20 within the chamber C. The impeller, actuated by the motor 3!, forces the cooling medium equally through both sections of the chamber C and outwardly through the openings 2| in the end wall of the easing into the passage E. The medium is then forced from the passage E in the direction of the arrows (Figure 2) into the elongate passage D having the cooling coil 34 mounted therein. The brine is cooled while traversing the passage D and is directed therefrom into the passage F from which it is moved by the impeller 28 through the openings 25 into the chamber C, whereupon the cycle is repeated.

Such circulation of the cooling -medium, constantly re-cycling said medium through the cooling chamber C, the passage E, over the cooling coil in the passage D, and leading through the passage F to the chamber C, obviously serves to maintain an even temperature within the cabinet.

In traversing the elongate narrow passage D, the cooling medium is sustained in intimate relation with the cooling coil positioned therein, because of the restricted passageway therethrough. Due to such intimate relation and the length of the passage it will be seen that the cooling effect of the coil upon the medium is amplified and the maintenance of an even temperature is facilitated.

The provision of the partitions 20 makes it I possible to divide the chamber C into a large number of compartments for separating various sizes or kinds of objects to be cooled from each other. Since the partitions are removable it will be seen that the size of the compartments formed therebetween within each section of the chamber C may be readily and quickly varied. Manifestly, circulation of the cooling medium through the compartments is unrestricted due to the fact that the partitions are made of a foraminous material.

It is noted that the provision of the cooling coil 34, within the elongate passage D reduces the amount of space usually occupied by such coils to a minimum, thereby increasing the amount of space within the cabinet available for use as a cooling chamber. Also, such an arrangement makes for a more compact structure, thereby reducing costs of materials and manufacture.

Due to the fact that the cooling medium engages the baffle M, a heat transfer is made possible whereby the interior of the chamber B is cooled. Since no liquid cooling medium enters this chamber, objects which cannot be immersed in a liquid may be readily cooled therein.

-It is pointed out that due to the position of the impeller 28 with relation to the longitudinal partition l9 within the chamber C equal streams of cooling medium are forced through each section of the chamber, thereby insuring the i maintenance of an even temperature therein.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A cooling cabinet including, a housing having a chamber therein for receiving objects to be cooled, a longitudinal partition within the chamber and dividing the same into sections, a cooling element within the housing and outside the chamber, means at one end of the chamber for circulating a cooling medium through the sections of the chamber and into contact with the cooling element, said medium being constantly re-cycled through the chamber and over the element, and removable foraminous partitions within the sections of the chamber for forming a plurality of compartments therein and permitting an unrestricted flow of cooling medium through said compartments.

2. A cooling cabinet including, a housing, a casing forming a chamber within the housing for receiving objects to be cooled, and being so disposed that an angular passage is formed between the housing and chamber, said passage connecting the ends of said chamber, one end wall of the chamber being formed of foraminous material and the other end wall having a central opening formed therein, a cooling element within the passage formed between the housing and chamber, and an impeller mounted within the central opening in the end wall of the chamber for circulating a cooling medium through the compartment and into contact with the cooling element in the passage, said medium being constantly re-cycled through said compartment and over said element.

. 3. A cooling cabinet including, a housing, a casing forming a chamber within the housing for receiving objects to be cooled, and being so disposed that an angular passage is formed between the housing and chamber, said passage connecting the ends of said chamber, one end wall of the chamber being formed of foraminous material and the other end wall having a central opening formed therein, a cooling element within the passage formed between the housing and chamber, an impeller mounted within the central opening in the end wall of the chamber to: circulating a cooling medium through the compartment and into contact with the cooling element in the passage, said me ium being co stantly re-cycled through said compartment and over said element, and foraminous partitions within the chamber for forming a plurality oi compartments therein and permitting an unrestricted flow of cooling medium through said compartments.

4. A cooling cabinet including, a housing, a casing forming a chamber within the housing for receiving objects to be cooled, and being so disposed that an angular passage is formed between the housing and chamber, said passage connecting the ends of said chamber, one end wall of the chamber being formed of foraminous material and the other end wall having a central opening formed therein, a longitudinal partition within the chamber and dividing the same into sections, a cooling element within the passage formed between the housing and chamber, an impeller mounted within the central opening in the end wall of the chamber for circulating a cooling medium through the sections of the compartment and into contact with the cooling element in the passage, said medium .being constantly re-cycled through said sections of the compartment and over said element, and removable foraminous partitions within the chamber for forming a plurality of compartments therein and permitting an unrestricted flow of cooling medium through said compartments.

5. A cooling cabinet including, a housing having a transverse baflie near one end thereof and dividing the housing into a liquid containing compartment and a dry cooling compartment, the liquid containing compartment having a chamber formed therein for receiving articles to be cooled; a cooling element within the liquid containing compartment of the housing and outside the chamber therein, means at one end of the chamber for circulating a liquid cooling medium through said chamber and into contact with the.

cooling element, said medium being constantly re-cycled through said chamber and over the element, the dry cooling compartment of the housing being cooled by the liquid contacting the baflle between the liquid containing and dry cooling compartments of the housing.

JAMES W. WILSON. 

